prayer request

Hi,

I have a prayer request for the group.

I just sent my friend a letter to tell him about Jesus Christ and how Easter is a celebration of our hope in Him and what He did for us. He used to work in the KC office with me and he became one of my best friends. He is Muslim, so I wanted to make sure he heard the real message of Jesus. Please pray that his heart is open to the message. Even if it doesn't take root now, I want a good seed to be planted. I also sent him a Bible in the hopes that he'll get curious enough to read it (I marked the Book of John, since it's a great starting point).

He is such a kind person, which is surprising since he's been through so much. He came from South Sudan (his story is similar to the men in "The Lost Boys of Sudan"). A Baptist church in Iowa sponsored his escape to America. He was also imprisoned when he was 16 for refusing to kill innocent civilians (a soldier handed him a gun and commanded him to shoot). He truly is an amazing person.

Thank you,

Renee

froggy

Funny how life works sometimes. I have a friend who jumps from church to church and I keep telling him that he needs to find one and settle in because there is no perfect church. (Because a church is made up of people and there was only one perfect person - the rest of us are generally a hot mess.)

Well, I recently got a bit froggy when something was said in my church that shocked me. So I've been going back in forth in my pea brain about what I should do. (I use the term 'froggy' because I am considering jumping from church to church until I find the perfect one.) Yes, I quickly forget my own advice.

Today I saw a piece from Aaron Armstrong that dealt with counterfeit churches and how they 'worship' (which is not a problem with my church) but his article had a suggestions for these three things to pray and I want to share it here. Great advice and great prayers.

• Pray for yourself. First, pray that God would show you the legitimacy of your concerns, and what is simply a personal issue that you need to work through.
• Pray for your church’s leadership. The elders and pastors of our churches are not perfect people. They need Jesus just as much as you and I do. Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide them and they would be genuinely attentive to his leading, and be open to constructive feedback.
• Don’t give up trying to be a positive influence. It’s tempting to jump ship and hope that you’ll find somewhere better. But because we know there’s no such thing as a perfect church, you’re always going to run into these issues. Don’t be disheartened—use the opportunities God gives you to fulfill your role as a disciple maker. Speak with your leaders. Encourage other church members. Be a blessing to this local church for as long as God has you there.

See, excellent prayers and excellent advice. 

http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2016/03/14/counterfeit-experience/ 

March 10, 2016

We began our study with Philippians 1:9

Ron spoke of the various Greek words for love: Agape, Eros, Philia, Storge and he brought into the discussion Hesed – which is used so many times in the Bible. David’s men had hesed love for him – loyal to death. 

3 things to pray for the Lord to do with our fellowship:

   1.       Clear the way
   2.       So that love with overflow with each other
   3.       Strengthen our hearts

So many other things were discussed including: staying in the word so that we strengthen our knowledge. Think of the scripture where Paul talks about meat instead of milk. 1 Corinthians 3:2 ESV: I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Finally, a picture! (What isn't pictured is the three other people who are with us via the telephone.)

A couple of comments from our class:

"Recently read through the book of Philippians and thought that this is where I should live. Such a happy and peaceful book." Miguel

Ron said that in the past he has wondered why he didn't have the same contentment that Paul had.

Outline
1st chapter: Single minded
2nd chapter: Servant minded
3rd chapter: Spiritual minded
4th chapter: Secure mindedness

Did you realize that Philippians begins with grace and ends with grace?

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Philippians 4:23

what God esteems man does not

I forgot to take a picture of us. I wanted to show people how we are a varied mix of people who gather to hear the good news of Christ. Hopefully next week we will get a picture.

 We finished chapter 16 of Acts today. Ron calls this chapter the groundwork for our study in Philippians. There were so many other interesting conversations about verses 34 - 40 that I forgot to write down my notes so I could recall it here for you.

We had two people call in from other offices. We had three 'new' people join us.

Prayer requests:

K: Clair during surgery
K: Debbie for pain
A: Deb for conviction
K: Andrew comfort for loss of grandmother
A: comfort for his mother and family
C: Bob M cancer has returned
C: Kelly & Anne healing and strength

 Ron opened our study with a wonderful prayer that spoke of how Jesus was with us and he recalled the scripture where we are told that when two or more are gathered in His name.

we are BACK

It seems like it has been forever since our study group met. Thanks to Ron Wheeler we are gathering together again to study the word of God.

Here are some of my notes:

We will be going through the book of Philippians. So he had us open our Bible up to Acts. :)

We will be going through Philippians verse by verse. He will show us context, cross references, ask questions and we'll see how this applies to our lives.

Ron pointed us to a couple of websites:

www.cartoonaday.com

www.wordlessmessage.com

2 Timothy 3:16

The word of God is:
1. a plumb line for our life.
2. reproof
3. correction
4. training and righteousness
 
Prayer requests:

Q's Mom home
V's sister is depressed, lost her job, please pray for her
V's friend in a car wreck and he needs healing
D's asked us to pray for Godly leadership in our homes, our business and our country
D's asked for prayers for health
K's family has someone whose kidney's have shut down. They asked for prayers for healing and strength. 

We hope to see you here next week.

do justice

by Kris Wood
(posted on Facebook)

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8